FITCHBURG -- Behind any successful fundraising campaign is an energetic team of dedicated individuals.

Many have stepped forward to offer their talents in the Homestretch Campaign to raise the remaining $3.5 million needed to complete Community Health Connections' new $20 million state-of-the-art Fitchburg Family Health Center, and more are needed to help finish the task.

During the community portion of the campaign, two steering committees -- composed of boots-on-the-ground fundraisers, one in the Fitchburg and Leominster area and another in Gardner -- as well as an honorary committee of local officials, have been educating the public on CHC's mission to provide quality health care for all.

Joseph Sova, senior vice president of Avidia Bank and co-chairman of the Fitchburg-Leominster committee, was born at the old Burbank Hospital, where CHC is currently housed, and grew up in Fitchburg. He said he's proud to give back to the community where he found his start in life and in his career.

Sova, 55, of Sterling, helps to lead a group of about 15 individuals in soliciting donations from local people and businesses.

"I think the message has been very well received," he said. "People have opened their door to us, they've listened to what we have to say. We have really been pleased with the response we've gotten from everyone.

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Sova said his team has raised more than $551,000 since the public portion of the campaign kicked off in May, and has several other pending requests he's confident will be successful. He said the team is laying important groundwork for annual fundraising efforts.

Sova has been surprised, however, to learn how little people tend to know about CHC, the wide range of services it offers and the great impact it has on the community. He even learned more himself about the economic engine that is CHC.

"I thought I knew a lot about Community Health Connections. When I got involved with the folks here, I realized the network and what they actually do at this organization," Sova said. "I had barely scratched the surface in what I knew."

CHC serves about 25,000 patients across the region, undertaking about 116,000 patient visits annually, and employs about 275 people, numbers that are all expected to grow in the expanded space in the new building. CHC offers comprehensive medical, dental and behavioral care and pharmacy services.

He always invites potential donors to come and look at the building that will one day house all of that, and called it a "powerful statement to have them see what the future of the organization looks like."

"The building itself is truly a gem, and we're fortunate to have it in this area," Sova said.

He said it also lends itself to future growth, with the capacity to build an additional two floors.

"There is a need, and hopefully someday we can have that need fully met," said Jennifer Gordon, co-chairwoman of the Fitchburg-Leominster committee.

Gordon, 43, who grew up in Lunenburg and lives in Fitchburg, also serves as regional-associate-executive director of the YMCA Montachusett Community Branch in Fitchburg. He also oversees membership and wellness at the Central Community Branch in Worcester.

"We serve the same people, and we experience and see the same needs," she said.

Gordon said it's important to secure access to quality health care for everyone, regardless of their background or economic status. Not only is CHC meeting that need for patients of all ages and walks of life, she said, but it also meets the educational needs of local college students, such as those participating in Mount Wachusett Community College's dental programs, housed at CHC.

"I don't believe we could ever serve this community enough," Gordon said. "People don't necessarily know how to take advantage of the services that are around here. Having a group like the CHC readily available, it makes it that much easier, because it's right at their doorstep.

"Having it all in one building I think will empower people to see what is right at their fingertips," she added.

And if they don't have the means to get to the health center, Gordon said, CHC's ACTION van can go out to them, ready to serve the poor, disabled and homeless populations.

"CHC provides medical assistance to a group of people that may not have the financial ability to obtain health care elsewhere, but the quality of care is such that it is also an asset to anyone in the community that needs a doctor," said steering committee member David Streb, 62, of Fitchburg. "It's a great option for people that need a primary-care physician."

CHC doesn't only serve the poor, uninsured and underinsured, connecting them with insurance plans -- it also serves those with traditional, private health insurance plans, like Streb. He and his wife, Marcia Ladd -- who has also previously served on the CHC board of directors -- have been with CHC from the beginning, and even before that, in the early days of its predecessor, Fitchburg Family Practice, started by Dr. Robert Babineau Sr.

Babineau also founded the family-medicine residency program, now run by UMass Medical School, a resident of which delivered Streb's oldest daughter, Megan, 31. Streb recalls being told at the time that she was the first baby delivered by the residency program. (The UMass Medical School association with the program is expected to end June 30, barring successful negotiations between CHC and UMass.)

"One of the things has bothered me about the public perception of a community health center is that it's just for poor people," Streb said. "We've always been very happy with the health care we've received up here with our doctors. It's a good place for anybody."

He said he enjoys the convenient location near his home, has had the same primary-care physician for more than 15 years and has never had an issue getting a referral to the doctor of his choice when he's needed specialist care.

Streb said he became involved in the Homestretch Campaign because he knew his connections with a wide array of people across the city, made while previously serving as Fitchburg's community development director, would be beneficial to raising the much-needed funds to get CHC into its new health center. As a longtime patient, he is also able to speak honestly about the value and worth of CHC's mission, and is looking forward to going to a more modern, spacious and inviting facility for his health care.

"It's an important facility," Streb said. "I'm anxious to see it completed and fully funded."

Fitchburg Mayor Lisa Wong, a member of the honorary committee, said she has been a supporter of CHC from the very beginning, before she was mayor. She said a strong foundation of services has been built, and "now we need some additional financial support in the homestretch to be able to ensure the sustainability of servicing a much bigger population."

Wong said she strongly believes that a healthy workforce and a healthy community go hand in hand, and that focusing on people and not just buildings is part of the city's overall revitalization strategy.

"Without the initial support of $11 million from Congressman John Olver, the reality of expanded services to meet the community needs might be a decade or more off," she said. "This is an opportunity of a lifetime and a chance to actually save and improve people's lives today, but the initial funding took us only to third base and we need the community to take us all the way home."

In 2014, Fitchburg will celebrate its 250th anniversary, and as part of the celebration, Wong is issuing a "HomeRun Challenge" to the citizens of Fitchburg to raise money for the new health center. Each month, she will personally contribute $250 to the campaign, and is challenging everyone to step up to the plate and match her contribution.

"There's such a great need in this community," Gordon said. "You just step out into the community and deal with the people and the families, and you see the faces of the children--and it's not even really a question."

"I think a physically healthy community goes a long way to its economic health, and I think we've really got to start with that--make ourselves as healthy as we can, and it will come back to the economy in our community tenfold," Sova said.

Anyone interested in participating in the Homestretch Campaign in any way may call CHC Vice President of Development Arlene Betteridge at 978-878-8551.

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